Contura – Autumn/Winter 2013/14

To make good
Röteli you need
pailfuls of highquality
cherries
and spices.
spread. Recipes were handed down from family to family and from generation
to generation. Basically, Röteli is no more than water, schnapps,
dried cherries and seasoning. This fine macerate used to be drunk on New
Year’s Eve. "In the old days, the married men would see the old year out.
And the bachelors would see the new year in. They would go from one
farmhouse to another to wish the occupants good luck and prosperity in
the new year, particularly in their stables. Or, more precisely, it gave them
a chance to woo the farmers’ daughters. As a reward, they received a sip
of Röteli. One sip followed another – as did the (more or less virtuous)
wishes they expressed", says Kindschi with a grin. He grew up in Davos
Dorf, where Kindschi Söhne AG operated their distillery until 2012. He too
used to visit the farmhouses in this manner. He says it was a novel way of
dating, long before Internet and Facebook. Thanks to this magic potion,
many a friendship or life-partnership was formed.
The best Röteli is well-balanced
"Good Röteli should release a variety of flavour notes onto the palate. No
individual spice should predominate. Balance is the name of the game." It
is not without a touch of pride that he mentions the 100,000 litres that he
produces every year. And his production is on the increase. Davos is clearly
the leading centre of production of this liqueur. So, how do you make
good Röteli? First, he needs good-quality dried cherries. I beg your pardon?
Cherries in Davos, 1,500 metres above sea level, far above the level
for fruit-growing? A long time ago, dried cherries (which could be kept a
long time) would be transported here on pack animals from Italy and the
Orient. Later on, the cherries came from Switzerland. Nowadays, however,
he has to order 3-4 tons of cherries from Turkey, because Swiss producers
can no longer guarantee that they can deliver sufficient quantities. Each
steel tank contains 240 kilograms of cherries and 16 kilograms of spices
including cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and cardamom - the other ingredients
remain a secret. Then he adds 2,000 litres of fruit schnapps (mostly
from apples or pears) with an alcohol content of 40 per cent. The cherries
are left to ferment for five months. From time to time, they will be stirred.
"The main thing is that the schnapps should release as many flavouring
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